BRITISH IFBB FIGURE PRO LYNSEY BEATTIE LOOKS BETTER AT

MATURE
MUSCLE
BRITISH IFBB FIGURE PRO
LYNSEY BEATTIE LOOKS
BETTER AT AGE 37 THAN
WHEN SHE STARTED
COMPETING 15 YEARS AGO
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BY
JOHN PLUMMER
GARY PHILLIPS
PHOTOGRAPHY BY
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When Lynsey Beattie
competed in her rookie
year as an IFBB pro,
Ronnie Coleman was in
his fist-pumping prime,
her rivals included
Susie Curry, Monica
Brant and Kelly Ryan,
and figure and bikini
didn’t exist.
The year was 2003, which might
not seem that long ago but
in the ever-changing world of
bodybuilding, where faces
and physiques come and go
faster than managers of
Leeds United, a decade is
an eternity.
It’s doubtful whether
any of the aforementioned quartet or
indeed many other
IFBB pros from the
class of 2003 look
better now than
they did then but
Beattie does. She
has managed to
achieve both
longevity and
constant improvement in a
sport in which
many burn out
after three or four
years.
This year, sporting
her all-time best look
at the age of 37, she finished a career-high fifth in
an IFBB pro show. Her goal for
2015? To improve on that.
Beattie is a great role model,
not only for competitors but also for
mothers: she has three children, one with
a learning disability. It’s been a long and
at times hard road but she keeps coming
back for more.
■
LEG DAY
Leg press:
Walking lunge:
Vertical leg press:
Sissy squat:
Standing leg curl:
Leg extension:
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4 sets of 50-60 reps
4 sets up and
down the gym
4 sets of 30 reps
4 sets of 20 reps
using only bodyweight
4 sets of 12 reps
4 sets of 20 reps
FITNESS FIRST
Beattie was a rake-thin amateur
when she first competed in 2000.
Back then, female competitors were
rare. Figure, bikini and physique didn’t
exist so the only options were bodybuilding and fitness. Basically, if you didn’t
want to take things to the max or could
perform tumbles your options were
limited. Beattie did fitness and became
British champion in 2002, which earned
her an IFBB pro card.
She made her pro debut at the 2003
Night of Champions in New York, which
Ryan won, and went on to compete six
times in her rookie year. She achieved some
decent top 10 placings but her old photos
make her wince. “I looked terrible,” she
says. “I looked ill, skinny and had no
muscle.”
In 2005 she had the distinction of being
invited to compete in the Figure International at the Arnold Classic in America. She
remains the only British woman invited to
participate in this contest.
Beattie has now notched up more than
20 pro shows. Until 2014, she never
managed higher than sixth but each year
she looked a little better.
Her abs and glutes have always been
among the best in the world but she
struggles to build her shoulders, a key body
part in figure, and get her legs conditioned.
In May she had her first opportunity to
compete in Britain since her amateur days
when BodyPower staged a pro figure
contest and she seized the moment,
finishing fifth in a tough international
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line-up headed by Zsuzsanna Toldi,
Amanda Doherty and Louise Rogers.
Beattie’s abs were the best on stage and
her weak points were less noticeable. “It
was definitely my best physique so far,” she
says. “I went back to basics. I didn’t take
any advice from anybody except Simon Fan
and that was just for diet. I did my own
training and just went hard and heavy.
“I said if I got top 6 I would be over the
moon so fifth to me is brilliant. I will take
that all day long. Some people don’t realise
how hard it is to place fifth at a pro show.”
A few weeks after BodyPower, Beattie
fell down her stairs, ripping her glutes and
almost breaking her back. She has barely
trained since but isn’t overly concerned—
she’s still got her trademark abs and is wise
enough to know muscle memory will kick
in, leaving her plenty of time to get ready
for BodyPower in May.
As usual, she’s competing against
herself first and foremost. “I’m going to
work hard to get a bigger cap on my
shoulders,” she says. “If I can achieve that
and come in looking better than this year
then I’ll be happy.”
little structure first. Then get on stage and
take your time.”
Time, when accompanied by sensible
training and eating, can be kind, as
Beattie proves.
HARD AND HEAVY
“I TRAIN HEAVY AND HARD—
THERE ARE NO SECRETS.”
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What motivates her to keep going year
after year in such a demanding sport? “I
think I’m just bloody barmy,” she jokes.
“Seriously, I don’t think I have hit the
pinnacle of what I can achieve yet. I was so
small when I started and am only now
growing into what I can be as a figure girl.”
Beattie only does one or two competitions a year now and thinks that has helped
her to keep going. “I don’t think the body
can take two or three diets a year at this
standard,” she says. “You burn out too
quickly.”
Beattie has looked better than ever in
her 30s but will she still be donning her
two-piece in her 40s? “I will see how I do at
BodyPower,” she says. “I might call it a day
afterwards but if I keep getting better, who
knows? Competing gives me a goal to go to
gym and get my arse in gear.”
What advise has she got for the army of
women invading the sport in the new
divisions? “A lot of people want to rush to
get on stage and they haven’t got a good
enough physique,” she says. “It’s taken me
14 years to get to where I am now. A lot of
bikini girls are so skinny now. It’s a
bodybuilding sport and you need to build a
Think of a training style and the chances
are Beattie has tried it—CrossFit, kettlebells, TRX, high reps, low reps…
They’ve all got merit but she says
nothing beats the basics. “What I have
found works best for me is hard weight
training,” she says. “Nothing fancy. I train
heavy and hard—there are no secrets.”
When she says heavy she means it—she
has leg pressed nine-and-a-half plates a
side for 12 reps. “We got it on video because
I knew some people wouldn’t believe it,”
she says.
Her leg endurance is phenomenal.
Sometimes on the leg press she loads the
machine with 60 kg then does 10 reps with
her legs together followed by 10 with them
apart, 10 with her feet higher up to hit the
hamstrings and glutes and 10 plié presses,
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resting only for as long as it takes her to
change foot position.
She has detailed a typical leg session
but her routine constantly alters. “I
change my training week by
week because if I don’t, I get
used to it quickly and I
don’t see change.”
Form, she says, is key.
“The secret is to get it
right when you start
using light weights then
when you progress to
heavier weights you will
be conditioned to keep it.”
Her legs are both her
strongest and weakest body
part: they can shift some serious
weight in the gym but lack
detail on stage. “My legs are
the bane of my life when it
comes to conditioning,” she
says. “I can lift the weight
and do the work but they
don’t come through as I’d
like. Every year they seem to
get a little bit better but it’s
taken 14 years.”
Beattie usually trains
two days on, one day off
but sometimes throws in
an extra glutes and hams
session on Sundays,
particularly in the run-up
to a show.
Pre-contest she does
half an hour cardio each
day after training and
also in the evening. “I
don’t go mad,” she says.
“I just do steady incline
walking on the treadmill
or go on the bike, I don’t
do any HIIT training
because I burn muscle
quickly.”
What about contest
dieting? “It changes every
time depending on how I look
and feel,” she says. “I tend to go with
five or six meals a day and keep my carbs
quite high until near show day when I
drop then down. BCAAs, glutamine and
multivitamins are her top three supplements. FLEX
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SNAPSHOT
Name: Lynsey Beattie
Age: 37
Place of birth: Liverpool
Lives: Northampton
Height: 163 cm (5 ft 4 ins)
Weight: 59 kg (131 lbs)
Career highlights: 5th in pro
figure at BodyPower
Ambition: To get to the Olympia.
Then I will have done every major
show there is to do.
Training advice: Don’t rush to get
on stage. Bodybuilding is about
building muscle so learn to grow
first.
Sponsors: Extreme Nutrition, Six
Pack Bags, Gold Standard
Nutrition chicken,
HarlequinBodybuilding bikinis,
MuscleTalk and One Rep Max.
Contact: On Facebook at Lynsey
Beattie Ifbb pro or on Twitter
@missbritain.